The main motivator for a person to try the Artiste has been “if they have a friend who uses it”. That has been the leading buying pattern; a personal testimonial.
Such was one case where a person was somewhat impressed with the long laudtry list of features, although they candidly admitted that they didnt know what half the features did. They were cajoled to consider trying it out aided by a strong unrelenting recommendation from a long-time user. But the new potential user made an eerie remark to me, something to the affect of: “If your system does not have a mover, I will never use it…but if it has a does have a mover, then I know I will never use anything else”. The Artiste had a mover system at the time, albeit, simplistic, so I was not sure if it would suffice. Turns out it did the trick.
The topic of ‘mover’ is a very weighty one. It is so deep that I won’t even entertain the thought of covering it all in one blogpost. If it wasnt for the keen interest and existing wide base of user-awareness, I probably would not consider it as a topic for non-Artiste owners.
==============
The Artiste offers 2 primary ways to create object/avatar movers. I call them Method #1 (Palette Menu) and Method #2 (Marker-Controller).
There is an illustrated manual on the topic…the longest manual at 122 pages…but…I did gave a mock one-on-one familiarity class to Aura and I was able to cover the whole book in one hour, albeit without any hands-on or Q&A.
I suspect in reality that it might be broken up into 2 or 3 classes to allow for hands-on, Q&A, homework, etc.
==============
Method #1 just uses a single Artiste Palette and Artiste Anchor.
Method #2 uses an Artiste Controller and Artiste Anchor and the Controller generates 2 to 11 Artiste Markers that define the route.
Method #1 was born during the video entitled The Battle . The Battle (video). I got the idea that it would be cool to have chess pieces move as part of the routine while it was in development. I wasnt sure it would work as envisioned but it did.
It was even at that point that I decided that this thing, at the time called an Artiste Gadget and later renamed to Artiste Palette, would do more than just ‘move’. I didnt want to create a new ‘thing’ everytime I got a new idea or need.
Three videos later the need arose to plan and see a route visually identified at key points along the way during a video called Sisters Sisters (video). This need came from Aura and so I whisked up something quick to faciliate the mapping out of 2 mirrored routes. Each avatar route consisted of 6 or 7 moves including a turn and descension down stairs. And thus theMethod #2 (Controller-Marker) system was born, albeit crude in its design, it was the 1st and last time I believe that it was used.
(A sidenote: I had developed a moving system about 3 years ago back in 2012 while at Orchids, abeit clunky in its design, it worked, going up and down stairs with animated walk and turn and I was excited but didnt garner the enthusiasm from peers enough for me to make it a paramount endeavor at the time and so the idea died. Little did I know it would garner such interest later on)
Meanwhile, the Controller-Marker system sat on the shelf until summer of this year when I decided to revamp it and combine it with a couple of other features. I was able to kill 3 birds with one stone in the redesign. It took the whole summer but I managed to trudge thru it.
And thus was born the new Advanced Mover System. I don’t claim it as advanced over other systems. The adavanced moniker applies to being advanced over what we already had.
Method #1 covers the 1st 25 pages in the manual. Method #2 covers the next 97 pages.
Sounds scary I bet?
But…I am able to create a working moving object-mover Palette in 8 seconds using Method #2, albeit using default values.
I just like to go slow and spell things out and try not to leave any gaps in the learing process when I create manuals and it is very feature-rich compared to its former incarnation.
And those who have been using Method #1 don’t seem interested in the new Method #2 because they say Method #1 is so easy. But they posit that people coming from other mover systems would find Method #2 an easier transition.
I agree that Method #1 is easy and the way to go and recommended by me if you have about 3 or less moves of which I think covers 95% of mover situations. A beginning move followed by a turn and an ending move usually suffices most needs, from what I have seen.
========================
Method #1: Creating a single object-move
1) Rez Palette and Anchor. Move Palette to its first position relative to the Anchor…press the DumpInitial button
2) Press StartMove button, move the palette, then press EndMove button. Then press DumpMove.
3) Copy and Paste the owner-only chat output into the *moves nc, change NoOfMoves from 0 to 1. Change Moveable,off to Moveable,on in *palette nc. Save nc and Reset the Palette. Palette will move and rotate to its home position and rotation orientation.
Done!
To test, press TestAllMoves. Your Palette will move
=================================
Method #1: Creating a 2nd object-move
To add a 2nd move to the end of this 1st move
1) Press EditMove. Press the 2 button
2) Repeat steps 2 and 3 (change NoOfMoves to 2 and dont need to set Moveable because its already changed)
Done!
To test, press TestAllMoves. Your Palette will move 1st move then 2nd move.
Making it into an Avatar-Mover takes a few more steps.
======================
I kept this simple and short as I could. And yes it uses default values but it is easy to edit new values into the nc to change the duration or add a pause time at the end.
Adding a turn is as easy and will be covered in another Tutorial. I just wanted to introduce you to how Artiste approaches moves and the level of effort involved.
Pressing buttons, moving the Palette, editing a nc, and copy/pasting are the 4 primary operations.
Lat “Yummy” Lovenkraft
A Kat and A Mouse 